NCPC refutes Tonto Dikeh’s ambassador appointment claim

Etim Ekpimah

The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission has debunked claims by Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh that the commission appointed her as an ambassador for peace building.

The actress, who had visited the NCPC office in Abuja on Thursday and met the commission’s executive secretary Rev Yakubu Pam, later came back with a press release on Friday claiming she had been appointed ambassador.

However, following reports about the alleged appointment, Pam in a statement on Friday night posted to Instagram noted that Tonto was never appointed ambassador, and advised the public to discard the claims.

The statement reads: “I wish to state in categorical terms that King @tontolet paid an official courtesy visit to me as the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission on 25th February, 2021 at the corporate headquarthere in Abuja.

“As the founder of @officalthetontodikehfoundation she expressed her willingness and interest in partnering with the Commission in the area of peace building.

“She equally cashed in on the visit to commend me the NCPC boss for my positive and relentless peace initiatives across the country.

“However, I am suddenly inundated with claims from King Tonto Dikeh herself that she has been officially appointed as Ambassador of peace by this great Commission. This claim has gone virile in the media.

“The Commission frowns at this claim which is a clear misrepresentation of what transpired.

“The fact remains that the I the Executive Secretary of NCPC never appointed King Tonto Dikeh as an Ambassador of Peace for NCPC and this was not part of her visit therefore this claim by her is spurious, unfounded and should be discarded and seen by all Nigerians as a figment of her imagination.

“Nevertheless, we appreciate her desire to partner with us in our peace building initiatives and in the area of pilgrimage sponsorship to the Holy Land.”